TWC Thoughts, Week 1

The very first lesson of my university life was Technology and World Change. I remember being excited the night before as technological advances was always one of my main interests. Things such as the Google Glasses and 3D printers never fail to amaze me.

Brief Overview/Summary:

The lesson was divided into two parts. For the first half of lesson, we introduced ourselves as well as shared our views on Technology and World Change(TWC). I shared on the future possibilities of technology but was pointed out by the Prof that there was always two sides to the coin. A good example would be that technology in the form of our latest gadgets can either bring us together or bring us further apart.

The second half of the lesson started off with the video "Shift happens", followed by discussion of the technological advancements in human history. As there were inequality in development, our discussion led to the book "Guns, Germs, and Steel" by Jared Diamond. In the book, Diamond attempts to answer the question of inequality through Guns, Germs and Steel.

Interesting Observations and Ideas

Midway through the lesson, the Prof posed us a simple question: What is technology? All of us came up with complicated explanations which could simply be summarized into the following: Technology the knowledge of doing things and how to do it better. This simple view of technology widened my horizons as even objects such pen and paper are revolutionary technologies in their respective eras.
 
In addition, the Prof made an important clarification with us. In TWC, we are not learning about the latest technologies and trends in the world. Instead, we are learning about the processes by which technology have evolved as well as how the past had provided insights on potential changes in the future.

Key Take Away Points

One interesting observation I had from the video "shift happens" was the notion that whatever we are learning now will be outdated by the time we are ready for the workforce. This just shows the pace that the world is progressing at. History has also shown that countries that resist change and adopt the closed door policy will ultimately fall. Hence, my key take away point will be that we should embrace changes in our world and not resist it.

In the discussion about inequality between nations, we came up with many strong arguments on why certain countries develop faster than others, such as geographical location, war and conquest, etc. However, what we can be sure is that there is no single definite answer as most of the time, it will be a mixture of factors that enable a certain country to develop ahead of others.


Issues for Further Discussion 

With regards to the video "Shift Happens", is it really possible for technology in the form of a super computer to one day overtake the human brain?


Personal Ratings for Session 

I find the lesson rather engaging and will give it an 8/10.